Aromatic carbonates have attracted attention as raw materials used to produce aromatic polycarbonates, whose usefulness as engineering plastics has been increasing in recent years, without using poisonous phosgene.
Regarding techniques for producing diaryl carbonates as raw materials for the production of aromatic carbonates, useful catalysts and methods for producing the same have been studied.
For example, Ti-containing compounds, such as organic titanates having a Ti—O—Ti linkage, are known as compounds having high activity and being useful as catalysts for reactions for obtaining diaryl carbonates using dialkyl carbonates and aromatic hydroxy compounds as starting materials, and methods for producing organic titanates having at least one Ti—O—Ti linkage are disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1 to 3).